I had an amazing night getting to know 4 amazing women/girls who spoke only Hasenia…but who were SO much fun. I played Barbie and they LOVED it!! I ate camel, a plate of chicken and fries, Mango, Creps and drank Mauritanian Tea. Life is good!!
To some, life can be a short, breathless piece of time. Those who choose to waist it are unfortunate beings with settled souls.
Everyone is on their own journey, but I feel that people have a hard time trying to figure out that journey. So many people are tied down to what they are told they need to do, or how they need to do something. Why not find your own way? For example: If you want to travel adn do good for the world and save or just impact lives… why NOT just move to another country/culture…get a job…learn from the people…allow yourself to be challenged and change lives that way?!? Why do you have to raise support, pray for years and be affraid of being vulnerable to another culture?!?
Move to ANY arab country and work with women, teach English (people are desperate to learn it), work in a resurant or with the embassy. On the side, work to empower women, young girls who have learned that submission to men is the only happiness they can have in life. Work with children who are SO poor they dont know how to be clean. Work with students who need the proper training to be sucessful utside of their country. ANYTHING!!
Through the last 4 months I have learned more than I think I had in the lifetime before I came to Africa. There are lessons to be learned every day, but I think that when You make yourself vulnerable, open your mind and create a world where you have no other option BUT to learn, there are things…unexplainable feelings that happen during that time that are invaluable and extremely motivating.
Through my time here not only have I gained a broader perspective on culture, tradition and life in another country, but I have learned what it means to respect in each culture I encounter, what it means to be a part of something, to feel included or rejected because of your race, beliefs or actions.
We as American’s are scared of a culture where men seem to dominate and control. A culture where in the name of a god we do not recognize these men make deadly rash actions that destroy life. Though there is no excuse for this…we lack the understanding of the culture as a whole…The intimate parts of Islam and the people, the innocent people, who are not SO different than us. We as Americans see one color, one belief and one outcome. Who are we to judge? just because we are protected and secure because we are one of the leading powers in this world does not give us the right to judge a culture of people who do not even KNOW much about this agressive group of people. It shocks me when I hear Americans who have settled in their way of thinking and who have adapted to the most narrow minded, naive way of thinking.
Where do we go from here? Is there any peace or resolution to this anger Americans feel towards the Arab people? Do we have to ship over Americans groups at a time for them to see how amazing, respectful, and loving this culture really is? Or is it too late and not even worth fighting back for the respect of a people who have more respect/more tradition/more love for family than any other culture I have seen?
